Chapter 839: Bewilderment

The creation of heaven-tier soul armaments was a complicated process and consumed a tremendous amount of energy. Any single person wouldn’t even be able to imagine the strain a crafter might go through to make one. In the Crafting School, the amount of energy a Soul King might use up crafting a heaven-tier soul armament was the equivalent of a commoner running well over forty kilometers of distance. So heavy would be the fatigue that several days of rest would be needed for a full reset. 

A Late-stage Soul King like Xiao Binzi would need to rest after making a single heaven-tier soul armament. That didn’t mean to say he didn’t have the energy to keep on going after it, but that he wouldn’t be in an optimal state. The process of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament was an arduous one that required the utmost concentration. And with the many rare materials that a heaven-tier soul armament required, not even the most experienced of crafters would be willing to undergo the chance when not at their best.Even Xiao Binzi, a late-stage Soul King, would need to take a break after crafting a heaven-tier soul armament. This didn’t mean to say he was completely exhausted whenever he crafted one, but that he wouldn’t be at an optimal state to be making another soul armament. 

The process of crafting a heaven-tier soul armament was one that couldn’t be done sloppily. The utmost consideration and care had to be had for the process and required multiple rare materials compared to any other soul armament. Without the right circumstances, no one from the Crafting School would even be willing to consider making a heaven-tier soul armament.

And yet, here Xiao Binzi could see Bai Yunfei was doing just exactly that! After finishing a single soul armament, he was going straight for a second soul armament. And a heaven-tier one at that!!

He was stunned at Bai Yunfei’s audacity. He simply couldn’t understand Bai Yunfei’s actions; was Bai Yunfei so blind to his abilities?

The rich flow of elemental fire was starting to wane now. Now half of its original volume, the energy was starting to stabilize while still maintaining the shroud of mist-like appearance around the mountain.

This was a surprise to Xiao Binzi. The calming of the elemental fire in such a way meant that the initial tempering of the materials was done.

Mo Yanbai and the others were quick to realize what was going on as well. “Elder Xiao,” Mu Chen looked on in disbelief, “Is…is Yunfei going to be crafting a second soul armament?”

While not knowledgeable about the crafting process, Mo Yanbai and the others could take the hint on what was going on. “Elder Xiao,” Mu Chen looked almost incredulous. “Is Yunfei…crafting a second soul armament?”

“Indeed.” Xiao Binzi nodded. “That is his intention. Ai, what an impulsive student. My deepest apologies for his showing.”

Xiao Binzi nodded.

“He is. This youngster has always been an impulsive student, my apologies in advance for his poor performance.”

But Mo Yanbai had a twinkle in his eyes. “Haha, I actually find myself looking forward to what nephew Yunfei does next. Perhaps…he will surprise us all yet again?”

Xiao Binzi grew silent. Would Bai Yunfei be able to craft a second heaven-tier soul armament? Xiao Binzi didn’t believe so. 

He sighed. It was far too hasty for Bai Yunfei to do as he did. Ultimately, Xiao Binzi couldn’t blame him for that. It’d do Bai Yunfei some good to have a setback now as a reminder of his own limits.

    ……

Time trickled by tick by tick. Rather than leave, Xiao Binzi and the others remained in the skies to wait. Of everyone there, Xiao Binzi was the one most concentrated on the changes of the space around them, waiting to see just how long Bai Yunfei would be able to hold out until the next step.

A little ways away from the elders, Zheng Kai, Song Lin, and the others were waiting as well. The other students of the Underworld School were there, though they could hardly make sense of what was going on. All they knew was that someone of the Crafting School was there crafting soul armaments, and that the Worldly Phantasm had already marked the success of one successful crafting. All that was left to do was wait for the very end for the final results.

Standing on top of a mountain farther away from the elders, Zheng Kai, Song Lin, and the others stood together to watch. Most of the students of the Underworld School were there as well, though they didn’t understand first that someone from the Crafting School was crafting a soul armament. After they found out, everyone began to chatter and stand there patiently in hopes of being able to see the final results.

Day and night made a full cycle again in Black Cloud Valley, though the elemental fire being fed into the mountain cave where Bai Yunfei was had yet to have even a single fluctuation in it. Over the course of everything, the expression on Xiao Binzi’s face had been constantly changing. 

At the start, Xiao Binzi had been fully convinced Bai Yunfei would fail in his second attempt.

This time, he was noticeably in awe now and eagerly awaiting for Bai Yunfei to finish.

By the time another day and night went by, Xiao Binzi was thoroughly convinced and hard-pressed to hide the shock on his face.

By the dawn of the second morning, there was yet again a change in the elemental fire that astounded everyone!

The flow of elemental fire used to be calm, like the waterflow of a quiet river. Now, the flow was nearly chaotic, churning and billowing rapidly so that in a matter of seconds, the elemental energy was swirling around the mountain like a maelstrom!

The elemental fire was picking up in intensity as well. As if gaining the properties of a magnet, the maelstrom was taking in even more elemental fire from its initial hundred meter radius into itself!

Soon, the maelstrom of elemental fire was nearly a kilometer in radius and nearly touching the area where Zheng Kai and the others stood. Most of the students there had already fell back in fear at the rapid growth of it, but before their fears could completely overwhelm them, the maelstrom was already starting to change in form.

As if a bottomless hole had suddenly appeared at its center, the maelstrom was quickly losing its mass as the elemental fire was swallowed up into the mountain peak!

“Crack!!”

Right as everyone was still processing what was going on, a clap of thunder resounded through the area right before a dazzling bolt of violet lightning struck the ground!

This bolt of lightning was identical to the other one a few days ago. But this time, it wasn’t just one bolt this time…

“Crack! Crack!! Crack! Crack!!”

The first bolt of lightning hadn’t even fully dissipated when another four bolts dropped from the skies onto the small mountain of Bai Yunfei!

Another five bolts descended from the skies, but none of them slammed into the mountain. Instead, they fell behind the mountain where it was seemingly taken into the maelstrom of elemental fire and was erased from sight!

Bolts of lightning were starting to crackle to life all over the place now. They converged together to gave rise to one singular bolt that seemed to wriggle almost like a snake made completely of lightning.

Just like the maelstrom of fire, the gigantic bolt of lightning started to shrink after a while. In moments, it too, was gone behind the mountain…

Every single person that had been watching the spectacle was tongue-tied. Most of them were completely bewildered by the sudden and large-scale changes going on in the world around them, but for those who knew a little bit of what was going on, such as Song Lin, were in disbelief at the sight.

“He’s done it!! He’s actually managed to succeed!!”

In the skies above the main halls of the Underworld School, Xiao Binzi cried aloud his own thoughts. He couldn’t help it, he was just so surprised by the significance of what Bai Yunfei did.

A split-moment after he cried out, Xiao Binzi started to grow extremely excited.

“Eh?!”

But before the shock could even wear away, Xiao Binzi took notice of something else and gasped at the realizations.

From the corners of his eyes, Xiao Binzi could see that crimson-red light was starting to gather yet again!!

“This…this…” Xiao Binzi was nearly at a loss for words. 

With his knowledge and experience as a Late-stage Soul King who had lived for over a hundred years already, Xiao Binzi never had such a hard time as he was right now trying to control himself. He could hardly even believe what he was seeing.

Not only had Bai Yunfei crafted two heaven-tier soul armaments in a row, he was right now trying to craft a third one without even resting!!

“Has…has Bai Yunfei reached the ‘Enlightened Realm’?!”

Xiao Binzi couldn’t help but voice out what he was thinking of at the time.

The Enlightened Realm. A mental frame of mind that could not be forcibly sought out. If there was something that could be studied, it had a realm of Enlightenment. 

A soul cultivator that entered the Enlightened Realm would be able to reach heights beyond what they would normally be able to reach otherwise. They would be able to see through problems they would have once been stuck by, and be able to break through bottlenecks. The Enlightened Realm for crafters meant being in the best possible state of mind for crafting. In this state of mind, a crafter would have not only a better chance of crafting, but also a higher chance of being able to craft even better soul armaments.

But reaching such a realm required a countless sum of experience and knowledge. It required having to craft well over tens of thousands of soul armaments before such a realm could be reached. Even for Xiao Binzi, who boasted a hundred years of being a soul cultivator and crafter, had only been able to reach that state once to craft two heaven-tier soul armaments. 

And now somehow, Bai Yunfei—who had only been crafting for less than a decade—had somehow…reached the realm of Enlightenment?! And to not only be able to craft two heaven-tier soul armaments, but three!

As he was thinking to himself, Xiao Binzi’s eyes glanced back over to where the mountain Bai Yunfei was on. His eyes flashed once with light as he realized something off about the situation.

“Oh? That’s…not the feeling of a third heaven-tier soul armament being crafted….”

Though the elemental fire around the mountain was starting to gather again, he was still able to tell that the soul armament Bai Yunfei was crafting this time was only a heaven-tier soul armament.

Seeing this, Xiao Binzi had to let out a sigh. Even he himself didn’t know how he’d react if Bai Yunfei were to craft a third heaven-tier soul armament without rest.

“Even if he fails to craft this third soul armament, Bai Yunfei has done something that no one in our Crafting School has ever done before. Reaching the ‘Enlightened Realm’ before he is even a Soul King and crafting two heaven-tier soul armaments is still an incredibly shocking task….”

Xiao Binzi was trying his best to calm himself down. He smiled at the mountain, pleased at what Bai Yunfei was doing.

    ……

Half a day went by this time before Bai Yunfei was done. By that afternoon, the elemental fire was sucked into the mountain, though there was no Worldly Phantasm this time after.

“Yunfei’s out!”

It was Xiao Qi who cried out a moment later to Zheng Kai’s group.

There was a bolt of red light that flew towards them from the mountain as Xiao Qi spoke…